Jocelyn Ellis Releases Video for 'System Distortion'

Jocelyn Ellis, one of the most talented and creative musicians I've come across in Charlotte, released a new video this week for her single, "System Distortion." She continues to bend/blend genres in her music, and offers an intriguing visual with the video.

I ran into Jocelyn at a party Saturday night, and after talking to her for a few minutes I told her I was going to have to go through my CDs when I got home and break out the EP she released a few years ago ("If Cupid Had A Girlfriend" has always been one of my favorite songs by her). She's continued to put out great work since then, including speaking and performing at TEDxCharlotte earlier this year. Now, she's gearing up for the release of her debut album, Life Of A Hologram, on November 18, of which "System Distortion" is the first single.

Support good music, and keep up with Jocelyn online:

• Tumblr: jocelynellis.com

• Twitter: @mindofjE

• Facebook: JocelynEllisMusic

• Instagram: JocelynEllisMusic

• SoundCloud: jocelynellis

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You Should Know: 'Coal Ash Chronicles' -- Help Fund the Documentary

I didn't know what coal ash was until I met Rhiannon Fionn a few years ago. That's part of the problem, and she's part of the solution. Rhiannon, or Rhi as many call her, is an independent journalist who lived in Charlotte for several years before relocating to Seattle, and who has spent years reporting on the environmental issues and health problems being caused by coal ash. Now, she and her team are seeking your help as they raise funds to complete a documentary they've been traveling the country to film as part of their "Coal Ash Chronicles" project.

Coal ash is formed after coal is burned to generate electricity, which is a process done by many utility and energy companies. Coal ash is said to be this country's second-largest, mostly unregulated waste stream, and the materials contain heavy metals and radioactive elements, which often end up in the air, rivers, and lakes.

Credit: Coal Ash Chronicles

Rhi has been writing about this problem and doing investigative reporting on it for years. Locally, you may have seen her stories on coal ash in Creative Loafing, as well as an award-winning article she wrote for Charlotte magazine.

After traveling with a group to Washington D.C. to educate Congressional representatives about coal ash and how it's affecting communities, Rhi created Coal Ash Chronicles. Now, her team, which consists of about 20 contributors and volunteers, including other Charlotte-based journalists, photographers, videographers, and creative types like Desiree Kane and Kevin Beaty, as well as others from around the country.

They've recently launched an Indiegogo campaign, with the goal of raising $50,000 to complete their documentary. Watch the seven-and-a-half-minute video below, which shows people telling compassionate stories of how coal ash has affected their lives.

Rhi has put more than 60,000 miles on her car as she's traveled the country documenting these stories. She's stopping in Charlotte this week to host an event about the documentary (details below).

Support Coal Ash Chronicles

• Fundraising campaign: www.indiegogo.com/projects/coal-ash-chronicles

• Website: CoalAshChronicles.com

• Twitter: @Coal_Ash

• Facebook: CoalAshChronicles

Meet the Coal Ash Chronicles Crew
Thursday, September 26
Come out and meet Rhiannon Fionn and several members of the film crew, and learn more about the documentary and the impact of coal ash. Cupcrazed Cupcake Bar is supplying tasty cupcakes, and there'll be music and a cash bar. 6 p.m. Free. Dilworth Billiards, 300 E. Tremont Ave., dilworthbilliards.com.

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Robin Emmons, of Sow Much Good, Is a 2013 CNN Hero

For the last few months, one each week, CNN has been unveiling its 2013 CNN Heroes--"everyday people changing the world." Thousands of submissions were sent in from around the globe, and 24 people have been chosen as heroes (a few more are left to be revealed). This week's CNN Hero is Robin Emmons, founder and executive director of Sow Much Good, a nonprofit organization that's working to eliminate urban food deserts in Charlotte by providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and educating people about healthy lifestyles, among other things.

I've seen and read about Robin's work for the last couple of years, and she and her team have done a great job of spreading their message and reaching the people who most need their help. But as the CNN article on Robin points out, more than 72,000 people in Charlotte lack access to fresh produce. So she has a lot of ground to cover, just in this city alone. And they're doing it. The video below shows a few examples of how Sow Much Good, now with 200 volunteers, has grown more than 26,000 pounds of fresh produce for local underserved communities.

It's one thing to not eat healthy because that's your choice, but it's another to eat unhealthy foods because you can't afford or don't have access to better food. That's often the case for people in low-income neighborhoods, who end up eating most of their meals from dollar menus at fast food restaurants, and do much of their grocery shopping at gas station convenience stores.

On Thursday, October 10, CNN will reveal the Top 10 CNN Heroes of the year, with each receiving $50,000. As you've likely seen in years past, the top 10 will be featured on the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute telecast this fall, and the person selected as CNN Hero of the Year will receive an additional $250,000 to continue his/her work. During the tribute show, the heroes are each introduced by celebrities.

Let's hope that Robin Emmons is selected as one of the top 10. But even being chosen as one of the 24 heroes is already an incredible accomplishment. Get all the details by visiting CNNHeroes.com.

Sow Much Good, sowmuchgood.org, facebook.com/SowMuchGood, twitter.com/SowMuchGood.

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You Should Know: 'Destination Freedom' at Levine Museum of the New South

Levine Museum of the New South recently opened a new series titled, Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now, that will feature several different exhibits and programs over the next two years. The first three exhibits are on display now, and I had the opportunity to check them out a few weeks ago during a members' preview. The museum is holding an official kickoff event this Sunday, September 15 that you should check out. And even if you can't make it out that day, you'll want to make plans to visit the museum in coming months.

Destination Freedom is Levine Museum's commemoration of several important milestones in the Civil Rights Movement that are each approaching 50th anniversaries between 2013 and 2015: The March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (August 28, 1963); the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and murder of four young girls in Birmingham (September 15, 1963); the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places (July 2, 1964); and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (August 6, 1965). Those historical moments alone signify the importance of the exhibits, but as Levine Museum so greatly does with many of its exhibits over the years, it's presenting them in though-provoking ways along with scheduled events, corresponding programs, and dialogue sessions.

This Sunday is the Destination Freedom Kickoff, an event that's free and open to the public, beginning at 3 p.m. There'll be a panel discussion featuring David Forbes, SNCC member, Raleigh Hall of Fame inductee; Juan Carlos-Ramos, United for the Dream; Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, 1957 desegregation of Harding High School; Tiffany Flowers, director at KIPP Charlotte; and Joshua Burford, LGBT historian researcher, UNCC Multicultural Affairs; and will be moderated by Irving Joyner, NCCU legal scholar and Legal Eagle Review co-host. After the panel discussion, you'll get to enjoy a reception with entertainment by Latanya Johnson and the Sycamore Project, and tour the new exhibits.

Then at 6 p.m., at First United Presbyterian Church, which is directly across the street, the museum is presenting a keynote address by Diane Nash. Nash is a Civil Rights activist and co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (I learned a lot about SNCC during my Afro-American Studies classes in college), and she'll reflect on 1963 and the lessons for today.

Sunday's activities are free, but reservations are requested at 704-333-1887 ext. 501 or rsvp@museumofthenewsouth.org.

If you can't attend on Sunday, you should make a point to visit the Destination Freedom exhibits soon. Whenever I experience these kinds of things, they always remind me how important history is to what we encounter today. These exhibits, in particular, will show you how much progress in racial equality this country has made over the last 50 years. And while it would be natural to focus on the work that still needs to be done or to complain about things that still aren't fair, I'm inspired by the incredible hurdles and hardships that people before me overcame--it took people of all walks of life to work together--which makes many of the problems we face as a society today seem petty and disrespectful to the path that's been laid before us.

I was also inspired from talking to a teenager at the preview event a few weeks ago. She's a high school senior who participated in "A Ride for Understanding," the four-day, four-city Civil Rights bus tour across the Southeast that Levine Museum took 15 students on over the summer. Part of their experience is documented in the View from the Other Side exhibit that's featured in Destination Freedom. I was inspired by my conversation with the young lady because she, who's white, took an interest in a part of history that's far too often described as "Black History" when it is more American history than just about anything else. Plus, she reminds us that kids today don't harbor the same feelings about race that their parents and grandparents might. They're growing up having friends of all colors, listening to the same music, and sharing similar experiences. So they shouldn't be saddled with views that have been skewed by things they'll never have to experience. These exhibits help them realize how fortunate they are, but also why justice and equality are things that have to be tended to in order to be ensured and preserved.

The exhibits currently on display in Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now:

Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham
(on display until December 1, 2013)
Synopsis: Featuring provocative works by leading contemporary artists and designers, who carefully examine the various social conditions and components that energized the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, as well as continue the dialogue of race and equality in today's society.

Focus On Justice
(on display until January 26, 2014)
Synopsis: Curated by photographer Byron Baldwin, the exhibit includes photographs documenting the regional Civil Rights Movement as seen through the eyes of Carolina photographers Don Sturkey, Bruce Roberts, James Peeler, Cecil Williams, and others.

View from the Other Side
(on display until February 2, 2014)
Synopsis: Artists and students present works informed and inspired by issues of civil and human rights. Featuring pieces from local artists TJ Reddy, Rosalia Torres-Weiner, Mikale Kwiatkowski, and Antoine Williams, along with pieces from Performance Learning Center and History Active students.

Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., 704-333-1887, museumofthenewsouth.org, facebook.com/LevineMuseum, Twitter @LevineMuseum.

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Felix Sabates Is the Most Interesting Man In Charlotte

You know those "The Most Interesting Man In the World" commercials by Dos Equis, right? The beer maker launched the campaign several years ago, and the commercials continue to be clever and funny. Like how the most interesting man: "In a past life, he was himself;" and "If opportunity knocks and he's not home, opportunity waits." I've never encountered anyone quite like that, but throughout my career as a journalist, I've met a lot of very interesting people. And recent experiences lead me to say that Felix Sabates Is the Most Interesting Man In Charlotte.

Many of you might know Felix primarily for two things: his Mercedes-Benz dealership in south Charlotte and his part ownership in NASCAR team Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. I interviewed him about his views on the current state of NASCAR, for an article that appears in the September/October 2013 issue of Where Charlotte.

But if you ever have the opportunity to interview Felix Sabates, it's all the stuff you likely won't include in your article that makes him so interesting. He told me fascinating stories about his relationships with other NASCAR team owners and executives over the years, his relationship with Michael Jordan, the condo he owns in Miami across the street from where the Heat play, his run-ins with Dennis Rodman, and more. He tells these stories so randomly, yet matter-of-factly, you could listen to him talk for hours. He doesn't mince words, yet he's very likeable. I bet he's the life of parties, and I'd sure love to hang out with him. Someone needs to write a book on this guy.

And aside from all the anecdotes you'll get from the stories he shares, his own story is fascinating. He was born into wealth in Cuba because his family owned many businesses there, but they lost it all when he was a teenager due to Fidel Castro's dictatorship. Felix came to the U.S. at age 16, and a few years later settled into Charlotte, where he's lived since 1963. He went from working as a parking lot attendant and washing cars during those early years, to becoming a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. In addition to his car businesses and sports teams affiliations, he also owns a company that builds yachts.

I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.

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